With so many new companies starting in California over the past few years, we got to wondering, which are the best Silicon Valley startups?
With the economy rebounding in a big way in recent years, startups have become all the rage again. From the entertainment world to organic food-based companies, funding for new ideas has rarely been this plentiful. Many people prefer trying to work at a startup as opposed to a powerful corporation. This can be for a variety of reasons, including potential equity offered by startups as well as a smaller, more personal work environment. If you think a small company might be for you, be sure to check out our list of the 20 best small tech companies in the US.
So, for making this list, how do we define ‘best’? Well, best represents a number of factors. The amount of money the startup has raised definitely matters, but other determinants such as the startup’s trajectory and popularity matter as well. Moreover, company size is important to note as well. People tend to prefer to work at startups that have a smaller work environment and provide ample room for growth.
As well, this list is limited to Silicon Valley. While there are great companies beginning across the nation, Silicon Valley is home to more startups than any other region in the world. With so many young professionals looking to start their careers, let’s take a look at some of their choices by ranking the best Silicon Valley startups.
6. Firebase
Firebase is a startup that is designed to help people build apps without terribly slow and overbearing servers. The concept is more or less akin to a dropbox for application development. The company raised more than $7 million within the first year of its launch and continues to get funding from major players such as Flybridge Capital Partners. With a company size of 11 employees and a stated desire to continue to grow and expand that team in the near future, Firebase is one of the best startups in Silicon Valley.
See more of the hottest and best Silicon Valley startups on the next pages.
5. Leap Motion
This startup has raised over $45 million from a variety of funds, has 80 employees, and is growing rapidly in popularity. The concept is sort of a touch-free motion controller. In other words, it would allow your hand to work as a remote or controller generally would. It’s incredibly innovative which makes it exciting, and can be applied to such a variety of devices, so growth seems inevitable.
4. Nextdoor
This startup allows people to connect with people in their neighborhoods through a Google Maps-esque type of viewing system which pin drops the locations of neighborhoods in America. It’s garnered over $100 million in funding and would be ranked higher on this list if social media platforms had stability. And that really is what Nextdoor is: a social networking platform, one that could become massively popular, or if users find one little problem with it, one that may fall off as quickly as it’s risen. Its large upside and logical space in society makes Nextdoor a desirable Silicon Valley startup to work for.
3. Kiip
Kiip is a startup with a very unique concept. The idea is to turn advertising from a disturbing part of application use into an enjoyable benefit. The startup offers people free products simply for using certain mobile applications. The result is marketing for the companies and free things for the users. The idea of a friendly advertising service that allows everyone to win has helped the company receive an undisclosed amount of money from American Express, and with a medium-sized team of about 60 employees, Kiip is one of the most desirable startups to work for in the area.
2. Optimizely
Optimizely is a startup that strives to make multivariate testing an easy and powerful tool to use. Multivariate testing can largely be a complex task, as it requires weighting different reactions to a variety of potential testing factors. Optimizely makes this strategy easier by condensing the process and organizing the results for you; in essence the startup optimizes the testing process. The startup has an undisclosed amount of funding, but is continuing to grow rapidly and its upward trajectory is a large factor in its ranking. One common problem with many startups is that they initially sound great and have the potential to succeed and fill a market niche, but once they hit market, they simply do not work as well as intended or fail to find the expected market. Their curve can be similar to that of a steep roller coaster if you will. By having a startup such as Optimizely, which definitively works and can be applied to more and more platforms, growth seems inevitable, making it one of our best startups in all of Silicon Valley.
1. Lyft
Lyft is a startup with a very simple goal and motto: it’s Uber for people that don’t want to have to overpay for Uber. It’s motto is ‘Your friend with a car’, and people simply give a suggested donation amount. This startup reminds me of a story I read last year about a classroom experiment at Stanford University. To quickly summarize it: The class was split in groups and had 24 hours to see how much money they could make starting with $5. One of the most successful groups offered a bicycle air pump on campus for free, with a donation box, and received way more money than they would have if they’d simply charged a flat fee. By not charging the users a designated amount, Lyft taps into the same thing that these Stanford students did, which is using people’s conscience to give a large donation amount. This startup has received over $85 million in funding and has an employee size of just over 60 employees. With its growth on the horizon, and the success of its natural foil in Uber, Lyft is our top-rated startup in all of Silicon Valley.
